Husband & Wife

One day while they were sitting at home watching the children play with their hound, the grocer said to his wife, “I’m going out to get some ginger.” So he left and didn’t return until the wee hours of the morning, treading up the stairs and falling onto the center of the bed. His wife kept the children quiet so he could sleep and brought him lunch—a heaping helping of duck soup.

The next day while they were sitting at home watching the children play with their mule, the grocer said to his wife, “I’m going out to get some olive.” So he left and didn’t return until well into the next morning, trudging up the stairs and falling onto the edge of the bed. His wife kept the children quiet so he could sleep and brought him lunch—a heaping helping of barley soup.

Later that day while they were sitting at home watching the children play with the fish in their pond, the grocer said to his wife, “I’m going out to get some brie.” So he left and didn’t return until midday, tripping up the stairs and falling onto the floor beside the bed. His wife kept the children quiet so he could sleep and brought him lunch—a heaping helping of cabbage soup.

The following morning, when the grocer’s wife went to bring him his lunch, she found him still lying on the floor, dead. Ginger, Olive, and Brie wept at his funeral, each unaware of the other.

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P.S. This was a story I originally wrote for my creative thesis, but it didn’t make the cut. What do you think? More from my thesis soon! [I might have some very exciting news on that front in a few weeks!]